Hebrew (/ˈhiːbruː/) (עִבְרִית
ʿIvrit, [ʔivˈʁit] (help·info) or [ʕivˈɾit] (help·info)) is a West Semitic
language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is regarded as
the language of the Hebrews/Israelites and their ancestors. Other Jewish
languages originated among diaspora Jews. The Hebrew language was also used by
non-Jewish groups, such as the ethnically related Samaritans. Hebrew had ceased
to be an everyday spoken language by around 200 CE, and survived into the
medieval period only as the language of Jewish liturgy and rabbinical
literature. Then in the 19th century it was revived as a spoken and literary
language, and according to Ethnologue, is now the language of 5.3 million
people worldwide, mainly in Israel.[2]
Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of Israel
(the other being Arabic), while Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in
Jewishcommunities around the world. The earliest examples of written Hebrew
date from the 10th century BCE [3] to the late Second Temple period, after
which the language developed into Mishnaic Hebrew.
Ancient Hebrew is also the liturgical tongue of the
Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular — although today
only about 700 Samaritans remain. As a foreign language, it is studied mostly
by Jews and students of Judaism and Israel, and by archaeologists and linguists
specializing in the Middle East and its civilizations, as well as by
theologians, and in Christian seminaries.
The core of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew
Bible), and most of the rest of the Hebrew Bible, is written in Classical
Hebrew, and much of its present form is specifically the dialect of Biblical
Hebrew that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, around the
time of theBabylonian exile. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by
Jews as Leshon HaKodesh (לשון
הקודש), "The Holy
Language", since ancient times.
Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was
based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation. However, the
earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native language and
often brought into Hebrew idioms and literal translationsfrom Yiddish.
The pronunciation of modern Israeli Hebrew is based mostly
on the Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation. However, the language has adapted to
Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in some respects, mainly the following:
the elimination of pharyngeal articulation in the letters
chet (ח) and ayin (ע) by many speakers.
the conversion of (ר)
/r/ from an alveolar flap [ɾ] to a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or uvular trill
[ʀ], by most of the speakers, like in most varieties of standard German or
Yiddish. see Guttural R
the pronunciation (by many speakers) of tzere ֵ as [eɪ] in some contexts
(sifrey and teysha instead of Sephardic sifré and tésha)
the partial elimination of vocal Shva ְ (zman instead of Sephardic
zĕman)[34]
in popular speech, penultimate stress in proper names (Dvóra
instead of Dĕvorá; Yehúda instead of Yĕhudá) and some other words[35]
similarly in popular speech, penultimate stress in verb
forms with a second person plural suffix (katávtem "you wrote"
instead ofkĕtavtém).[note 7]
In Israel, Modern Hebrew is currently taught in institutions called Ulpanim (singular: Ulpan). There are government owned as well as private Ulpanim offering online courses and face-to-face programs.
